Middlesex Sheriff Announces New Crime-Fighting Tool

Local police agencies will now have access to more information on prison inmates.

  Middlesex County law enforcement agencies now have an additional tool to fight crime - more and easier access to information about prison inmates.  The Middlesex County Sheriff's office recently unveiled MIDNet, the Massachusetts Inmate Data Network, which allows police officers to access information on inmates in hopes of bolstering public safety, according to the Sheriff's office.  MIDNet allows officers to find information on an inmate's status, charges, identifying marks, aliases and other information from other correctional facilities, including state Department of Correction facilties. As of Dec. 19, 39 out of 54 Middlesex County communities had enrolled in the program. “We, as police officers, have known for years that there is a …

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UPDATE: Obama Nominates Sen. John Kerry for Secretary of State

The Massachusetts senator is the president's pick to replace Hillary Clinton as the country's top diplomat.

UPDATED: John Kerry is President Obama's pick to become the next Secretary of State, and replace Hillary Clinton as the nation's top diplomat. Many expected Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, to be the president's pick after U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice took her name out of the running last week. Rice had been under scrutiny by Republicans in Congress for statements she made in the aftermath of the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. The scramble to replace Kerry is already on; a poll done for WBUR showed yesterday that Republican Scott Brown would lead if the special election to replace Kerru were held today.

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Frugal Family

This Week's Money Saving Deals

Five great deals to help you save on locally sold products.

We're all watching our family budgets these days. Whether shopping with coupons or looking for two-for-one deals, we're taking advantage of all sorts of offers and savings that help us stretch our dollars.  This Frugal Family column is dedicated to giving you five great local deals each week that will help your family’s bottom line, and since we do the scouting for you, you can save time as well as money. You are a big part of this column. Let us hear about the deals you've seen. Just add them to our comment box. Then come back each week and see what we've uncovered together. This week we feature deals on Thomas' Bagels at Market Basket, 7 deals in 7 days at Roche Bros., and free items with Extrabucks at CVS. You can't afford to miss this …

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PatchCast

PatchCast: A Church Crash, a Theater Birthday and Soggy Football Action

A video roundup of the area's latest developments for Monday, Sept. 26.

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